It took three days Joanra in seeing the Military Emergency Unit and the firefighters work in the streets of Algamesione of the municipalities of Valencia that has been most affected by the DANA. His voice, marked by fatigue and pain, reflects the effort and hope to return normality to his life and that of his neighbors. He confesses that since last Tuesday he has been living on “autopilot”: he gets up, gets dressed, cleans the mud, takes a break at noon and continues working until the light allows.
Since DANA hit the region until the arrival of the Army on Sunday, Joanra and her neighbors in Algemesí have had to deal with large amounts of garbage and debris that have accumulated in its streets. “Help has come mainly from volunteers“he emphasizes Public. Without their support, he says, they would not have had food, boots, gloves and tools. This Monday, after days of abandonmentyou begin to see the streets clearer.
Alfafar, Massanassa, chiva, Catarroja and Albal They have also suffered the consequences of the catastrophe in Valencia and have faced greater obstacles in receiving help because access to these towns was blocked. Xavierneighbor of Torrent (València), comments to Public that many homes are still without electricity or water. “When this starts to normalize, there will not be enough labor to serve everyone“, he warns. “The recovery will be very slow; It’s going to take us a long time to get back to normal.“he laments.
Josep Almenarmayor of Picanya (València), another of the municipalities most affected by DANA, explained to this newspaper on Saturday that, “since the water began to go down a little”, He has been coordinating the cleaning tasks with his team and street rehabilitation. “If we don’t act, no one will. “We are trying to remove the mud, drain the water from the basements and organize the incredible number of volunteers who arrive every day,” he said.
Chaos in Paiporta: the community comes together to survive
Javier volunteered at Paiporta (Valencia), disaster ground zero. He witnessed unusable garages, vandalized cars and devastated businesses. “It is the most affected place, there is nothing left“No supermarkets, no pharmacies, absolutely nothing,” he says.
María (not her real name), one of Paiporta’s neighbors, states that “they paint everything as if help is coming, but no one comes.”
Despite being one of the most accessible municipalities, Maria (fictitious name), one of the residents of Paiporta, states that “they paint everything as if help is coming, but no one arrives, We are the neighbors who are saving ourselves.“In addition, he insists that volunteers They need permission from the authorities to accesssince, otherwise, “it is impossible.”
Javier relates that in the first days after the passage of DANA he did not see no sign of authorities or emergency teams; The volunteers began to arrive on Friday, and the real change was noticeable starting on Saturday. “On Friday the priority was to use the sewers to drain the water, but I knew we couldn’t put the mud in there because it would harden and cause a blockage, although many didn’t know that. It was not until the firefighters arrived on Saturday that the situation could be managed appropriately,” he explains, underlining the importance of having effective logistics and coordination at such a critical time.
“The first day there were cars piled up in front of the houses blocking the neighbors’ exit. Then there were the most affected areas, with mountains of garbage and mud. Lack of coordination; People have good will, but they don’t know who to help, and that makes work difficult and slows down,” he points out.
Valencia asks for more machinery
The State, the autonomous communities, the provincial councils and the municipalities continue to send assistance to the areas of Valencia affected by the floods. This aid includes emergency and security personnel, firefighters and police, as well as machinery, food, cleaning materials and economic resources. Currently, about 17,000 troopswhich include the military, civil guards and national police, have been deployed in the areas affected by DANA in the province of Valencia.
However, Javier reports that “industrial machinery, tractors and excavators are needed on the street.” Furthermore, he insists that when the streets are in good condition again, it will take money to rebuild housessupermarkets and so that people can buy a car. “That’s another question: there will not be enough cars for all the people who have lost theirsso they will have to look for alternatives, such as enabling buses…”, he says.
Maribel Albalatmayor of Paiporta, already announced last Saturday in statements to this newspaperthe lack of “heavy machinery and human resources to clean the streets.” “Nwe need people from the Army“, she stated. The councilor showed her gratitude for the mobilization of the neighbors and sent a message to the media: “This is going to be a long process, so, please, Don’t forget Paiporta when it stops being news in a week“.
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